Isaac N. Headley, 1820-

Census records from 1880 and 1885 show Isaac Headley living in Logan Precinct, Gage County, Nebraska. The census also shows that he was born in Indiana in 1820 and that his wife, Susan E., their two sons and a granddaughter engaged in farming. The 1885 agricultural census shows that he owned 170 acres of land valued at $4,500. Apparently, Headley was an early settler in Gage County. A history of Beatrice, Nebraska (Queen City of the Blue by Zoa Ann Worden) lists Isaac N. Hadley (sic) as one who entered a deed for public land in 1862 (p. 46). In Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska, he is shown as the Gage County Surveyor in 1864 (p. 1899). No other information about Headley's life could be found. From the information gathered, it can be assumed that he engaged in both farming and surveying during his years in Gage County, Nebraska.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

This collection consists of one volume of manuscript material on four sheets of microfiche. This material is designated as one series: 1) Survey Notebook, ca. 1854-ca.1870. This volume consists primarily of the survey notes of Isaac Headley. A note at the beginning of the volume states that the book was bought from A. Lynch on November 24, 1854. Entries of financial accounts, scripture citations, and weather conditions are included. However, the most interesting entries are those describing the surveying done by Headley in the mid-1860s. Of particular interest are the two surveys done for Daniel Freeman on November 23rd and 24th, 1865 and March 21, 1867 (Sec. 26, T4N, R5E). Surveys for Freeman and many others, as well as surveys of roads are described, providing measurements of distance covered, techniques used, and individuals assisting Headley. The notebook is not in chronological order. The first three microfiche sheets are copies of the entire volume. Sheet four is a more legible transcript of only a part of the notebook, but this sheet includes entries made on the Freeman surveys.

Note: See the NSHS Library Catalog for Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska, Queen City of the Blue by Zoa Ann Worden, and various books and publications about Daniel Freeman. See RG4376.PH for photographs of Daniel Freeman. The Vertical File collection [RG5000] contains misc. information regarding Daniel Freeman. See the Nebraska History index for various articles about Daniel Freeman.